Improvement in hoisting-machines



UNITED STATES PATENTWQEETGE.

GEORGE H. REYNOLDS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AASSIGNOB TO HIMSELF AND CORNELIUS H. DELAMATER, QF THE SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN H'OISTING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 81,289, dated August 18, 1868.

To all lwhom 'it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE H. REYNOLDS, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hoisting- Machines; and that I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

My invention is adapted for hoisting cargoes into and out of ships, raising and lowering the material and nien in mines, and in all analogous situations; but it is more especially intended for those situations where a con Siderable number of hoisting-machines are to be worked from a single engine, as, for example, at the shafts of mines where the shafts are of such a size that several independent hoisting-ways are provided in the same shaft, or on a dock, where a number of hoisting-engines for loading and unloading coal and the like may be driven by a single line of shafting.

I will rst proceed to describe what I consider the best means of carrying out my invention, and will afterward describe the points which I believe to be new therein.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specication.

Figure l is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a cross-section. Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4 is longitudinal section. These figures show the entire machine on a small scale. Fig. 5 represents a side view of some of the parts on a larger scale, being the friction-gear and its appurtenances. Fig. 6 similarly represents another detail-the combined friction and spur gear which conveys the power from the back shaft to the hoisting-drum. Fig. 7 is a section of the same on the line S S in Fig. 6.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

A is the`flxed frame-work, made of castiron or other suitable material. B is a section of a long shaft, which is rotated by a steam-engine or other power. (Not represented.) This shaft is extended, and holds the saine relation to a number of hoisting-machines, only one being represented.

.A feather, b, communicates the'rotating motion from the shaft B to the friction-pulley B', the latter being free to move endwise on the shaft and feather, but being compelled to rotate with the shaft. The periphery of the friction-pulley Bl is finished in V-shaped grooves, as represented.

C is a counter-shaft, and G1 is a large friction-pulley, keyed or otherwise rmly fixed thereon. The periphery of this pulley O1 is iinished in grooves, V-shaped to correspond with the surface of the friction pulley B. The motion is transmitted from the pulley B' to the pulley Gl, and this from the shaft B to the shaft C, at a reduced velocity, but with an increased force.

C2 is a similar pulley by the side of the friction-pulley Gl, which is adapted to receive the strap-brake D, which is mounted as represented, and adapted to be operated by the action of the foot on the treadle D', as will be obvious. O3 is a small tooth-pinion, fixed on the shaft C, and meshing into the larger pinion E3. There is a peculiarity in the construction of these Wheels which will be described'further on.

The general effect of the gearing is to transmit a slow and powerful rotatory motion to the wheel FP.l This latter is iirmly fixed to the drum E. This drum winds up the rope or chain, or, by being allowed to turn in the opposite direction, allows the latter to unwind, according as the machine is required to hoist or lower.

It will be understood that, in the act of /unwinding, the brake D and its connections are used in the ordinary manner to control the rapidity of the unwinding, consequently the lowering of the weight which is suspended.

It will be observed that the bearings of the shafts B and C are not directly on the framework A, but are in boxes. I will describe these boxes separately. The boxes M N support the shaft B, and also the gudgeons or trunnions of the drum E. The bearings or gudgeons of the drum E are designated E1, and are hollow extensions, cast or otherwise firmly Iixed on the drum, and turned at the periphery to form small and durable bearings. A hole is provided quite through the gudgeons El, and also through the drum E, of a greater diameter than the shaft B, so that it allows the shaft to turn freely without contact therewith. The boxes M N are nished properly to form a suit# able bearing for the gudgeons El, and also to form a suitable bearing for a smaller shaft, B. This is effected by making the bearings each with an offset, as represented, one-half, or about one-half, of the width of each box M N being adapted to serve as a bearing for the shaft B, and the other one-half of the width adjacent to the ends of the drum E is finished and adapted to form a suitable bearing forlthe gudgeons E1. I form the lower box and the upper box alike, so that a rm and reliable bearing is provided, with proper provisions for oiling. (Not represented.) Ihave designated the large part of each bearing m1 and the small part of each bearing m. The peculiar construction and arrangement in these parts make the bearings of the shaft B entirely independent of the bearings of the drum D.

It frequently happens, where machines are worked in this manner, that one hoisting-machine lies idle for a long period, sometimes for an entire season, while the shafting which is ready to drive it is actively rotating and givin g motion to the others. Now, if, as is usually the case, the shaft B were used for the support of the drum E and its connections, the wear thus induced, being all on-one side of the drum E, would induce serious damage, and perhaps quite incapacitate the machine for subsequent work. As I have arranged it, the wear is entirely independent of the drum E. No contact ofthe shaft B with the interior of the drum E can occur until the box M is gradually worn away. Very ordinary care on the part of the engineer in charge is sufficient to guard against the shaft getting so much out of line as to touch and wear upon the interior of the 'part E; and even supposing that it does so wear, the subsequent lining up of the shaft by introducing new boxes M N-remediesthe evil entirely; and the fact that the interior of the drum D is worn a little out of true on one side is of no effect whatever in the subsequent working of the machine. v The boxes Ml N support the shaft C. Both move horizontally within certain limits. The box nearest to the wheel C1 is connected, by links m2, to pins O, mounted eccentrically in the shaft l?. By turning this shaft P by aid of the hand-lever Pf, the box N may be moved horizontally. It is thus moved away from the shaft B when it is desired to suspend the hoisting motion, and is moved toward the shaft B, so as to press the surfaces of the friction-pulleys Gl into contact with the surfaces of the fiction-pulley B1, whenever it is desired to oist.

The pins O are mounted in such a position on the shaft P, and all the parts are so adjusted, that the radius of motion of the pins O acts nearly in line with the links m2 when the friction-wheels B C* are properlyv in contact, so that there Ais a great leverage to allow these parts to be forcibly brought together by the action of the hand on the lever P. I attach considerable importance to this arrangement. The other box, Nf-that nearest the gearwheel (J3- is adaptedto be adjusted horizontally by means of the screw It. This screw allows the gear-wheels G3 and E3 to be adjusted with very great delicacy.

I will now describe the construction and the peculiar operation of this gear as thus delicately adjusted.

The teeth of each of the wheels G3 and E3 are cast or otherwise produced, of the ordinary approved forms, for matching accurately together, and transmit the motion smoothly from one wheel to the other. The service which is required of these wheels is peculiarly severe. In the act of hoisting, a rotatory motion is transmitted slowly from the wheel C3 to the wheel E3. In the act of holding the weights suspended, the teeth, which are in contact,

stand at rest, or support the strain in the ordinary manner.

So far the work is not peculiarly severe; but in the act of lowering the load by slackening the strain on the brake D the rope is liable to unwind from the drum E with very great rapidity, and a motion in the reverse direction of that of winding up or hoisting is transmitted from the large gear-wheel E3 to the small gear-wheel G3. The wear in this case is on theopposite faces of the teeth from that experienced in hoisting; and it is very difficult in practice to avoid a disagreeable and 'dangerous backlash in the gear. This is particularly severe when, after. attaining a very high speed, the brake D is applied with violence, and again let off or slackened up suddenly, as is liable to be done. The noise and liability to fracture which would other-l wise result from this peculiar service are entirely obviated by my construction and arrangement of these parts. I provide on each of the gear-wheels G3 E3 a stout rim on each side of theteeth, which is accurately turned to the pitch-line of the gear. I turn the screw R until the bearings thus provided are pressed firmly together, so that there is a rolling contact between the surfaces G4 and E4 on each side of the gear G3 and E3. The rims C4 and E4 are cast in one with the teeth G3 and E3, and perform the double functions of strengthening the teeth and of steadying the motion of the gear. I press the wearing-surfaces in contact firmly, so as to induce a slight resistance to motion, and find that the result is an almost noiseless motion of the gear, both in hoisting and in lowering.

I have tested the invention, and nd that it greatly reduces the liability of the parts to fracture. I wish it distinctly understood that I ascribe this fact not alone to the strengthening of the teeth by their connection at the roots, but also to the steadying of the motion and the prevention of concussive shocks and hammering of the teeth together by reasonof the contact of the rolling-surface.

I aid in resisting the strain, urging the boxes M N, apart, by means not only of the frame A, but also by peculiarly arranged and constructed binders H. These latter are adapted to perform the double duties of binders and of ties. Strong shoulders h1 h2 are provided, which fit over and support the corresponding surfaces on the framing A. By mounting the bearings of the shaft P and of the screw B in the ends of these binders, instead of on the framing A, I insure a directness of strain and an absence of spring in all the parts which is very desirable, and without which it would be ditlicult to properly realize the advantages due to the other advantages of my invention.

When the shaft B is short, the provision for allowing the friction-pulley B to move endwise thereon is of little importance. But when the shaft B is long, and is employed to give motion to more than one of my hoisting-engines, it is liable, from various causes, particularly from the occasional heating of the shaft from the friction, to vary the length, and thus to vary the position, of the parts iirmly attached thereto, so much so as to cause serious mischief. My arrangement in allowing the end motion, as described, is being tested at the mouth of a mine where heavy loads of material are lifted by independent hoists at the rate of two hundred and fifty feet per minute by a single continuous-workin g engine.

Having now fully described my invention of an improved hoisting-machine, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

l. In a system of hoisting-machines, providing for end play by the employment of the feather l, or its equivalent, in combination with the V-shaft, friction gear-wheels B C1, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. In combination with the shaft C and l drum E in a hoisting-machine by the peculiarly constructed and arranged parts C3 C4 and E3 E4, as and for the purposes herein set forth.

4. The bearin gs m1 for supporting the drum E and its connections independently of the concentric shaft B, as and for the purposes herein set forth.

5. The binders H h1 h2, constructed and arranged to serve relatively to the shafts B C and their several connections, so as to support the frame A, and aid in preventing any spring or displacement of the parts under the strains and vibrations to which they are subjected, as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set I my name in presence of two subscribing Wit nesses.

GEO. H. REYNOLDS.

Witnesses lV. C. DEY, C. C. Lrvnves. 

